Aspen Marketing -- Documentation
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When we sought the ownership of the domain boardingschoolsforgirls.com by the usual method, namely looking it up at http://www.whois.com , that website returned the following gem of obfuscation:  

Domain Name: BOARDINGSCHOOLSFORGIRLS.COM

   Registrar: DSTR ACQUISITION. I, LLC DBA 000DOMAINS.COM

   Whois Server: whois.dotster.com

   Referral URL: http://www.dotster.com

   Name Server: NS.RACKSPACE.COM

   Name Server: NS2.RACKSPACE.COM

   Status: clientDeleteProhibited

   Status: clientTransferProhibited

   Status: clientUpdateProhibited

   Updated Date: 10-apr-2009

   Creation Date: 30-jun-2004

   Expiration Date: 30-jun-2014

After extensive further investigation on the web on April 6, 2010,  we found the following website:

http://www.ratite.com/whois/whois.cgi

We used the resources of that website to identify the owner of the boardingschoolsforgirls.com domain.  The following is copied from the website following that inquiry:

boardingschoolsforgirls.com   .com  .net  .org   Whois Form

Registrant:

   Aspen Education Group
   17777 Center Court Dr
   Suite 300
   Cerritos, CA  90703
   US

   Registrar: 000DOM
   Domain Name: BOARDINGSCHOOLSFORGIRLS.COM
      Created on: 30-MAR-04
      Expires on: 30-JUN-14 

   Administrative, Technical Contact:

      Hobbins, Mark  vappleyard@aspeneducation.com
      Aspen Education Group
      17777 Center Court Dr
      Suite 300
      Cerritos, CA  90703
      US
      1.5624675526

   Domain servers in listed order:

      NS.RACKSPACE.COM
      NS2.RACKSPACE.COM

Next Text on Aspen Marketing in Sequence -- Quid pro Quo (Red Link)

Navigating the Aspen Marketing article

1.  Exploiting publicity about abuses in the field, attempting to project the image that Aspen Education is uniquely immune to these problems.  

Too often we hear of clinicians advising parents that sending their child to a therapeutic program away from home is only a good idea if it is an Aspen program.  Clinicians and other referring professionals who give that advice are likely falling victim to  .   .   .   (more)

2.  Web Advertising.  A further example of where we would like to see improvement at Aspen/ CRC Health Group involves their web advertising. We saw temporary improvement about the time we previously called public attention to this, but it appears the problem is back, or maybe it never left and we just missed it.    (more) 

          2a. Documentation

3. Quid pro quo marketing (Red Link)  Quid pro quo marketing is providing some incentive, often an item of value in exchange for business.  It is not like the “cents off” coupon from your neighborhood grocery store; it is more like paying someone who appears to be a neutral source to tell you that is the best grocery store in town.  We are not accusing Aspen or CRC Health Group of actual payoffs or referral fees to educational consultants.  We will let you decide whether or not what we describe crosses any troubling lines.  (more)

              3a. Exorbitant perks

              3b. Special Events

           3c. External Referral

           3d. Information for Referral

4. Misuse of outcome studies.

Aspen, to its great credit, commissioned an extensive outcome study blanketing its schools, excluding its wilderness programs. The problem arises when the study is used to convince others of the effectiveness of one school or treatment center, ignoring the fact that the results of many schools have been lumped together.   (more)

5.  Referral from one Aspen program to another.

When a person is referred to an Aspen school or program, upon completion of that stay Aspen generally refers back to the referral source, a common practice in their business.  When a person arrives at an Aspen program  .  .  .  (more)

Additional Links:

Return to main article on Aspen Education

Blog entry on closure of Mt. Bachelor Academy

Official web site of Aspen Education

Official web site of CRC Health Group

Official web site of Bain Capital

Return to Major Providers Index

Return to Individual Schools and Programs Index

Woodbury Reports links to Aspen Education

Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

Last revised April 9, 2010